Caramel Chocolitas

Do you buy all the holiday magazines (not to mention regular everyday ones) like I do?

I can't make it out of Target or the grocery store this time of year without a least one or two new holiday cooking magazines in my hot little hands, lol.

My favorite are the Better Homes & Gardens ones and I probably have at least 25 at home at any given moment.  I have all the special ones like ~ Chicken, Mexican, Italian, Cakes, Bars, Brownies, etc.

I always go through them when I first get home and mark all the pages of all the wonderful new recipes I'm going to try.

And then they go to the magazine waiting area and some are never seen or heard from again! lol But I'm trying to get better!

This recipe was adapted from a BH&G Brownies & Bars magazine (cookbook?) that not only came from this century it's from 2013!  Yea me :)

These were so delicious and made the house smell SOOO good that we didn't even wait for them to properly cool down and ate them while they were still VERY warm. Ooey gooey caramely goodness is what these are and you NEED them in your life!

Here's what you need:

2 cups flour
1-3/4 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, unsalted and melted
2 Tbs. milk
1 - 1-1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 - 14 oz. package vanilla caramels, unwrapped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl mix the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.

 

Add the melted butter and mix until it's crumbly.

 

Press half the crumb mixture into the bottom of the 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside. Reserve the rest of the crumb mixture for the topping.

In a microwave safe bowl microwave the caramels with the milk on 50 percent power for 4-6 minutes stirring every 2 minutes until the caramels are melted.  I used a whisk to fully incorporate the milk into the melted caramels. (sorry no pic)

Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the crust in an even layer then the chopped pecans.

Pour the melted caramels over the nuts and chocolate chips.

 

Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

 

Cool completely (allows the caramel to set up) then cut into bars and serve.

You can rewarm these in the microwave for a few seconds (15-20) and serve with ice cream for total indulgence. 

Enjoy!

Serves 24 - 30 bars depending on the serving size

Here's the handy printable - Caramel Chocolitas